What Happened: On its sixth anniversary, the e-commerce giant JD.com announced international supermodel Liu Wen 刘雯, who enjoys 26 million followers on Weibo, as JD Worldwide’s new brand ambassador. JD Worldwide, launched in 2015, is JD’s cross-border e-commerce platform, which features almost 10 million SKUs from nearly 20,000 brands.
“We believe that our cooperation will help introduce more high-quality products from all over the world to Chinese customers,” said Frank Yu, the general manager of marketing and operations of JD Worldwide. And for its anniversary, the platform is launching livestreams and offline shows with celebrities and will provide customers with 50 percent discounts, coupons, and free shipping on international brands and goods.
The Jing Take: JD Worldwide has succeeded by leveraging the large existing customer base of its parent company, JD.com. However, it now faces harsh competition from local rivals Tmall Global, VIP International, YMatou, Xiaohongshu, and even daigous. Following its partnership with Farfetch, more brands are now opting for Tmall as their first choice for entering the Chinese market.
Therefore, the move to appoint beloved model Liu Wen, who is also Chanel’s brand ambassador, will no doubt help JD.com reassert its relevance with luxury consumers. Moreover, Liu’s positioning as a global superstar perfectly matches the brand’s cross-border identity, making her an authentic candidate to promote the platform. This ambassador also enjoys a strong reputation in the Chinese market, so the appointment may boost consumer trust in product authenticity, a significant pain point for local e-commerce platforms (recently, VIP International was embroiled in a counterfeiting scandal that involved a Gucci belt purchased on its platform.) Clearly, this deal is an unmissable opportunity for JD Worldwide to expand its market shares in the cross-border economy.
The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.
